An Eye For An Eye

by John Sack

Tells how German Nazis in Poland after the war were put in concentration camps, and recounts the story of Lola Blatt, a Jewish survivor, who was placed in charge of one of the camps

Genres: History, Holocaust, Nonfiction, Historical, World War II

272 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1993

About the author

Jewish-American journalist, considered to be the founder of literary journalism.

He was a war correspondent in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Yugoslavia.

His book Eye for an eye about war crimes against the German population of the by Poland annexed part of East Germany has caused an uproar because Sack pointed out the crimes against humanity committed by jews.

Sack was accused of holocaust denial and anti-semitism by various fellow jews and jewish political organisations.

Reviews

[Kelly Korby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book detailing the story of the Forgotten Holocaust the one committed against the Germans after world war 2. I truly am surprised this book was even allowed to be published or be known to the public.For its subject is absolutely forbidden to be spoken of in the academia of the United States or elsewhere in the world. It's unfortunate the Germans don't have a lobby to pressure and enlighten the world about this massacre of innocent people suffered at the hands of Jewish revenge

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could this be true? Is it not conceivable that, having suffered terribly in Auschwitz, a survivor would take revenge on the people from the nation that ran the concentration camp after the war? That is the story told here. Mr Sack tells a horrific story, first of the terrible tortures and crimes inflicted on Polish Jews at Auschwitz and subsequently, the alleged torture and crimes by Jewish survivors inflicted on the Germans caught in Poland after the war ends. The first half of the book is compelling. What terrible stories are told of survival in the camps and the forced marches from the camps as the Russian forces approach. The next part covers the building of camps for Germans caught in Poland or in seized German lands. Ostensibly, this was to catch and punish former masters of the concentration camps or members of the SS. Mr Sack shows many are just caught in the net, having little or no guilt or association. The main characters are cruel and inflict terrible suffering in many cases, yet many soon become horrified at what they have become.

Mr Sack tells the story of his search for this story and participants in the second half of the book. This part of the book is poorly written and jumps around. Obviously he is villified for writing anything about this. How could anyone want to hear about concentration camp victims becoming as cruel as the SS? And who would be sympathetic to Germans after the mass horror of WWII? Unfortunately, the end of the book does little to bolster Mr Sack's story with hard evidence. As he explains, few would talk about it, many denied it all and the few who would admit participation often recanted.

The end of WWII featured the biggest mass migration ever as the losers of the war were run out of ancestral lands. Many horrors were committed and perhaps this story sheds light on one. Hard to know for sure.

[V. Subhash · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was shocked when I read this book. Everyone knows that Nazis ran concentration camps for Jews but did you know that Jews ran concentration camps for Germans AFTER THE WAR? This book by noted journalist John Sack chronicles how hundreds of thousands of Germans were deliberately tortured, starved, and killed by Jews appointed by Stalin. Both sides of the Cold War cooperated in this plan to punish Germans. After the book was written, the publisher would not print it. Several big publishers did extensive fact checking but no one would touch it.

[Jakub Horbów · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nie da się nie podziwiać odwagi i szczerości autora. Ponad 20 lat temu stawiał pytania i opisywał, coś co nawet dzisiaj jest jednym z największych przemilczeń historii.

[Mela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read it dozen years ago. It was very shocking and sad.

It is true that crimes described here were almost nothing by comparison to crimes of the Nazis. Nonetheless, they shouldn't be silent.

Fantastic book detailing the story of the Forgotten Holocaust the one committed against the Germans after world war 2. [from Kelly Korby's review]

[Stefanie Robinson · Rating 1 out of 5]

While everyone is aware of what happened to Jewish people, and every other group that was not up to Nazi standards, many are unaware of what happened to the Germans after World War II. Poland in the post war era contained a large German population, some who had lived there for ages and some who had come to move into appropriated housing. Around 200,000 Germans died in Soviet concentration camps. Germans were subjected to the slave labor they had implemented themselves. Certainly, those German who were under the watchful eye of their former Jewish targets really had a rough go of it. Many were subjected to the same beatings and starvation rations that the Jewish populations had faced themselves. Humanity should not be subjective, yet it very often is.

I am a history major that specialized in World War II, and none of this information was communicated to me in any class that I personally took. When I found this book and read the title, I was very curious about this. I read this book, and was terribly disappointed in the author's attitude. I actually learned a lot more about this situation from the Smithsonian website than I did this book, which annoyed me for having wasted the money. What happened to people under the hands of the Nazis is abhorrent. What happened to the German people in retribution is also abhorrent. Neither group is innocent of committing crimes against humanity. Neither group should be applauded for their behavior, no matter how understandable one may find revenge. Children, especially, on any side of war should never be starved, beaten, tortured, or anything else. The author takes a very celebratory tone, and while I do understand feeling that way for the genocide that was inflicted, it is really disgusting to be pleased with treating people this way period.

[Dominic · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very strange book. The subject matter revolving around Jews persecuting Germans in concentration camps after WWII sounded very interesting to me, but certain things about the book’s contents and the writing style left me with mixed feelings.

Sack starts off in the preface and opening chapter talking about how covering this topic is a righteous thing, especially for a Jew, because to not bring attention to it would be wrong according to Jewish ethics and principles. While this is acknowledged sparingly throughout, Sack also mentioned several times how the Jews’ revenge on the Germans is a form of redemption, and that we should see things through their eyes. This isn’t problematic per se, as many would point out it is understandable to retaliate against war crimes, but there seems to be this bizarre fetishizing of torturing and killing Germans throughout the entire story.

One perplexing moment in the novel that helps illustrate this point is when a Jew was talking to a priest about why non-Jews hate Jews:

"The lion has a bestial instinct, you see, an instinct that tells it to kill that deer. The same with the gentile against the Jew. The Jew isn’t going to harm him, but the gentile still calls him a Judischer Schweinehund. He has this instinct against the Jew."

“But where does the instinct come from?"

"Maybe," the bishop continued, "the gentile receives it when he receives his mother's milk. He hears from the day he's born that if you don’t eat, the Jew will get you, that if you don't sleep, the Jew will get you. Maybe that."

This is one example of how the stage is set for revenge and “redemption,” even against those who were directly involved in the war in any way. It shifts from a story of illuminating atrocities not often talked about to a noble tale of vengeance.

Another major problem I had was that this book is written in narrative form. The vast majority of it is about the lives of Lola, the main character, and her friends and family. The first five chapters are almost completely irrelevant to what is supposed to be the main topic. I honestly would recommend just skipping to chapter six or seven if you plan on reading this. The writing style also makes it difficult to tell how much of the information presented is reliable; there are no in-text citations or references. Sources are provided at the end, but it’s a bit difficult to match up to specific passages. (At least that is how the formatting is on the edition I read.)

At times I found this book to be very gripping and interesting, yet at other times I couldn’t wait for it to end. The way it is presented makes it seem like a historical documentary written in prose, but it’s not. Still, considering there are very little options when it comes to this topic, I would still recommend reading it.

[Rhuff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author John Sack's probe into the dark corners of postwar Europe was an eye-opener for many. The promotion of Jews into the ranks of "anti-fascist police" in eastern Europe, the ethnic cleansing of eastern Germans, the revenge exacted on the latter by Poles and Jews alike - all thrown down the Orwellian memory hole for years, unmentionable in "responsible" academia or journalism. Like Benny Morris, John Sack faced the music for writing anything about the postwar Jewish experience that deviated from the "consensus": all Jews were noble victims, elevated into sainthood by the evils of WW II.

The end of the cold war allowed for an opening in the West as well as the East. No subject was taboo, including the role of Jews in Poland's security police, cleansing the nation of a new-despised minority. In researching his book among the still-living witnesses and perpetrators, Sack found the iron curtain was by no means left behind in Europe. The book was refused agenting or publication, the US publishing industry acting like commissars of public information. The pitfalls of writing history of still-living persons was brought home, too, in the savage about-face of his protagonist Lola.

Yet for all the book's importance it's very sloppy writing, reading like an expanded magazine article (it was in fact adapted from two.) There is too much padding, too much personal intrusion of what Sack ate for breakfast, etc.. The narrative is rambling, sometimes incoherent, short on some vital details. I would much rather have read quotes from those alluded German prisoner reports, than family details of descendants who play no role in the subject. History is about people, true enough, but there must be relevance. Still, the book is saved by its subject, despite the author's dancing apologetics.

Groundbreaking for its time it was even featured on 60 Minutes. The hostility of the Guardians of the Official Narrative was palpable. It remains a touchy subject today. Cold War triumphalism, German reunification, rising anti-Semitism should not be excuses for ignoring all pages of the historic record. To do so mocks pretensions of a free press and a society of open inquiry.

[Vince Dorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an account of the Real genocide in Europe that is not taught in schools or promoted endlessly through TV and movies. This is an account of the horrific torture and cruelty perpetrated by Jews (mostly) against Germans. The truly sick part of reading this book (written by a Jew) is the author's gloating, arrogance, and pride over the atrocities his people committed against White Europeans.

Everyone should read this.

[♥Xeni♥]

Found this ebook in my collection... I have NO idea where I got it from! Maybe one day I'll actually read it.

[Chad Montabon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a great copy that I head.

The story is not really told in a linear fashion and the atrocities discussed are often given without enough corroboration even to find further reading to corroborate it.

Because of the disjointed narration there are questions unanswered and very little in the way of a path to get the answers to those questions.